Scofieldtown neighbors say drums, worries still persist in park

Published 9:43 pm, Thursday, January 21, 2010

Yossi Stern, a resident of Very Merry Road, is one of two neighborhood residents who are on the Scofieldtown Area Remediation Task Force. He joins other Scofieldtown residents on a walk as they discover additional rusted 55-gallon drums in the park, a former industrial dump, in Stamford, Conn. on Wednesday Jan. 20, 2010. less

Yossi Stern, a resident of Very Merry Road, is one of two neighborhood residents who are on the Scofieldtown Area Remediation Task Force. He joins other Scofieldtown residents on a walk as they discover ... more

STAMFORD -- Scofieldtown neighbors say they have found 28 more rusted chemical drums in Scofieldtown Park just weeks after the city removed a 55-gallon barrel and 200-gallon oil tank from the property without testing them for hazardous chemicals.

Twenty neighbors gathered Wednesday to scout the wooded area east and north of the city's compost facility, acting on a nearby resident's tip that drums remained visible in the park, a former industrial dump.

The North Stamford homeowners carried fluorescent-colored signs imploring Mayor Michael Pavia to follow through with a commitment to clean up the site.

Many neighbors are worried the city may not do enough to address concerns about water quality following a city-hired environmental consultant's recent conclusion that nearby well contamination did not stem from the dump. Despite the conclusion, many Scofieldtown neighbors harbor suspicions the landfill may be leaching potentially hazardous contaminants into the groundwater supply.

"Will Pavia stop the 40+ years of toxic cover ups?" one message asked.

Another demanded, "Have you seen Pavia? Protect our right to safe water."

"I'm more than appalled that the mayor has yet to address the citizens of this area," Laura Feghali, a Saddle Hill Road resident said. "The city cannot turn its back on North Stamford."

Feghali, a Realtor for Prudential Connecticut Realty, said she is concerned not only about health and safety, but also protecting North Stamford property values.

Yossi Stern, a homeowner who for long has lived on Very Merry Road and now serves as one of two Scofieldtown neighbors on the city's Scofieldtown Area Remediation Task Force, said the administration could better put residents minds at ease if the city determined an appropriate radius for water testing and continued to test wells within that area.

At a task force meeting last week, remarks by the city Health Director appeared to suggest the city has completed its role in collecting water samples and that it would play an advisory role in the future to homeowners who wish to test their own wells.

Marion Hamilton, who lives on Scofieldtown Road -- next door to a home with a contaminated well -- said the city has reversed a promise to connect her to public water lines. City officials twice told Hamilton the home would be connected, only to say no later, she said.

"They're changing their story at will and not being held accountable by anybody," Hamilton said. "People in Stamford are being poisoned and the city's response is, `It's not our fault,' instead of, `How can we help?' "

Asked whether the city will consider extending any public water lines in addition to those it has already installed, Pavia said he would not rule it out, but could not commit to funding such a project.

"If the health director declares an emergency water lines will be extended," Pavia said. "The big question is, who will pay for them, because it is absolutely impossible for the city of Stamford to extend water lines throughout North Stamford."

Pavia said it is "certain" that the city will remediate the dump, but said he does not yet know "what shape it's going to take at this point."

The city has been mired in the toxic problem since the summer, when federal report of contaminated soil in Scofieldtown Park led city officials to test nearby wells for toxins. Since then, the city has found 33 wells contaminated with one or more of the toxic pesticides chlordane and dieldrin. The city undertook a project to connect water lines to nine affected streets in the fall, at a cost of $3.4 million.

Last month, in a conclusion that upset some nearby homeowners, an environmental consultant hired by the city, TRC Environmental, said groundwater testing carried out by the firm did not show evidence that nearby well contamination was caused by the dump.

TRC Vice President Carl Stopper said soil and groundwater tests did not find pesticides in the dump, and radar surveys did not find evidence of drums characteristic of chemical waste disposal within the landfill.

Heritage Lane resident Bob Boucher, like others gathered at the park Wednesday, said he did not trust the TRC results. The rusted drum carcasses visible among the trees are evidence that should refute the company's claims, he said.

"We don't need any high powered radar because we can drive by and see the drums any time," Boucher said.

On Wednesday, city officials initially said they were not aware of any drums in the park, but sent parks workers Thursday to check the area. City Operations Director Ernie Orgera said workers found and removed some drum carcasses Thursday, but they were empty. He said he did not immediately have a number of drums found.

Kevin Haworth, an inspector for the federal Environmental Protection Agency who canvassed Scofieldtown Park in 2007, said the EPA cannot order removal of empty drums, as they are not hazardous waste. During the 2007 inspection, the EPA found a total of 11 barrels. All but two were empty. The EPA issued an order for removal of the two drums, with which the city complied. The two sampled barrels contained a range of toxic substances, including 14 volatile organic compounds, eight semi-volatile organic compounds, three pesticides, one PCB and 17 metals.

Haworth said some of the barrels found by residents this week could have been among those identified by the EPA two years ago. A handful of the barrels bore chalk numbers. Haworth said the numbers are likely a sign that inspectors had labeled them.

Former city Operations Director Benjamin Barnes has said city workers removed a half-dozen barrels from the park last year after receiving the EPA order.

Boucher, who last month reported the presence of a 55-gallon barrel and oil tank in the park, said the city did not properly remove them. He said city tree workers used a boom truck to pull the containers out, spilling liquid from the oil tank.

Kevin Murray, a parks manager, confirmed that tree workers removed the containers, but said they were empty.

City officials said they did not test the containers for hazardous chemicals.